Can I have this deal?

[fivemack]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7813791.stm: "But for every £500 they have saved over [£6000], the authorities assume they earn £1 per week in "tariff income" and reduce the benefit payments accordingly."

£1/week/£500 is 10.9%, a significantly better deal than Madoff!

Changing that figure to 25p would seem a nice boost to poor pensioners in next year's budget; I think that a truly honorable government should also commit to providing an investment which pays the "tariff income", at least on sums up to that on which the tariff income equals the State pension, and that would provide the right incentive to keep the assumed rate of tariff income sensible.

Comments

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

It's not an assumption of interest; it's a policy decision that if you have capital above a certain level you can afford to use part of it to fund your income shortfall. Quite different, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect people with significant savings to use part of that to support themselves rather than relying on money from other people's taxes.

[naath.livejournal.com]

Isn't that like the way that if you have savings you don't get JSA because you are meant to spend the damn savings though? If you had 6 grand in the bank you could *spend that 6 grand* at 1 pound per week over a period of 115 years which is probably rather longer than you expected to live.